


Partners

by ilse_writes



Series: Partners [8]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Cooking, Follow up from Paper I and II, Gavin Reed used to be bad at feelings too, Gavin Reed's cats - Freeform, He's doing not so bad right now, M/M, Mild Angst, Soft Gavin Reed, Stress Baking, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Is Bad at Feelings, internal affairs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 01:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20939906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilse_writes/pseuds/ilse_writes
Summary: After the incident at the printing factory, things slowly return back to normal. As far as possible, anyway...< However, where Gavin took the physical hit, Nines took the emotional hit. He has no idea how to help the android with that, especially because Nines doesn’t say a word about it, no matter how much Gavin pries. There is a case of misconduct filed against his partner, with Internal Affairs investigating the thing. As far as Gavin knows they had one interview with Nines and when Gavin asked how it went, the answer was not even a full sentence: “Fine.” >





	Partners

**Author's Note:**

> Soft boys all around.
> 
> Happy Birthday, Gavin.

After a week rest at home, Gavin returns to the job. He’s confined to his desk for now, with his arm still in a sling and under the constant watch of Nines.  
“You should turn off your terminal,” the android suggests, no,  _ instructs _ . He sits at his own desk, his watchful eyes trained on Gavin. 

The detective scrunches up his nose. “I’m fine, Tin Can.”

“Do I have to list the signals that tell me you’re not?” Nines turns his chair a little so he can give Gavin his full attention. Or so he can easily get up to turn off Gavin’s terminal for himself. 

The detective pushes the little button that switches the terminal’s screen off and rummages through his desk drawer in search of the bottle of painkillers. Nines being right - Gavin has a headache from looking at the screen for more than half an hour - doesn’t mean he has to acknowledge it verbally.   
He gets up from his chair and walks off in search of something to occupy himself with during his mandatory ‘screen break’. He’s not really supposed to be back at work already, yet a week of sick leave had him crawling up the walls of his home. Fowler let him back into the bullpen, on the condition that his android partner would monitor his health closely. As if Nines needs an order from the captain to do that.

Gavin finds Tina on the other side of the bullpen and sits down on her desk without asking.   
“I was working on those, asshole,” she grumbles, pulling at the corner of a manilla folder he is sitting on. “Now those reports have your ass print all over them!”

“Makes them more interesting to read,” Gavin smirks, though he does lift his lower half to allow Tina to pull the folder from underneath him. 

“Mandatory break again?” 

Gavin nods. “You up for a coffee break?”

She smiles apologetically. “I’m sorry, Gavin, I can’t. I took a break with you an hour ago already.” 

“An hour and a half,” he corrects her. “Come on, Teens, I’m bored!”

“Some of us have work to do, you know,” she chides him lightly, pricking her finger in his thigh. “Go find something to do without computer screens or something.”

“Like what? Assort the coffee cups in the break room by size and colour? There is nothing to do here that doesn’t involve a screen.” He had already sorted through evidence, picked up some old case folders from the archive for who ever needed them and he was sick of the odd looks he got when he brought his co-workers a round of coffee. Okay, he never ever brought them coffee before, but he was bored. B. O. R. E. D. And whenever he looked at a computer screen for more than half an hour at a time he got a headache, thanks to his - slowly healing - concussion. So he had to find something else to do.

“I think Connor already did the coffee cup thing,” Tina answers with a chuckle. “I don’t know, Gav, alright? Maybe you should take off for the rest of the day? I know it sucks being at home and not being able to work, but it’s not like you are getting a lot done here either.”

“Excuse me? I’m making myself useful!” Actually, Gavin doubts his own words. His partner is picking up his slack, unintentionally showing him that an android could take over his job. It sets Gavin on edge, dredges up some old feelings.   
“You know what? Fuck this. I’m going for a smoke.”

This whole ordeal has him smoking more than usual. A while after they started working together, Nines took it upon himself to make the detective quit smoking. Gavin put up a fight at first, yet the android was nothing if not persistent. He tried different methods, from telling Gavin off, to hiding his smokes, and eventually settled on the method of distraction. It took Gavin a while before he was on to that, he actually thought RK900 finally gave up on trying to make him quit at first. In the end, the one that gave up was him; it was not like he quit smoking all together, he just smoked a lot less on most days. Besides, if he wanted to keep up with the android in the field, he needed his lungs fully functional.

Nines finds him outside, two or three drags in. “Detective, are you coming? We’ve got a case.”

Gavin rolls his eyes and shakes his arm in the mitella. “Desk job, remember?” He had to stay behind earlier this week too, not being allowed to crime scenes in his current state.

“I know. That’s why I told the captain I would drop you off at home.”

It isn’t until they are in the automated car that Gavin notices that they are going towards the wrong part of the city. “Nines? Are you sure you put in the right address?”

The slow yellow cycle of his LED stops for a moment, Nines looking up from reviewing the case file or whatever it was he did inside his computer mind. “I am.”

“I thought you said you would drop me off?”

“I did. And I will.”

Gavin smirks. “But you’re taking me to the crime scene first.” He bumps Nines in the shoulder. “You lied to the captain!”

The android raises his eyebrow minutely. “I did no such thing. I told him I would visit the crime scene and that I would drop you off at home. I merely omitted mentioning in which order.” 

Of course Nines doesn’t let Gavin out of his sight at the crime scene and he finds himself trailing behind the android in some sort of reversed early Anderson - Connor situation. But it is good to be out, to do something constructive in the field instead of reviewing evidence of cold cases until his head aches. 

***

A couple of weeks go by like this. Whenever possible, Nines takes Gavin with him to crime scenes. Most of their cases involve homicides, with little to no danger of the killer still around to fire his gun at them. The detective can do his job there with minimal risks, injured or not. Gavin suspects Fowler knows what they’re doing, yet he’s allowing it thus far.

His headaches slowly go down, flickering screens are bothering him less and less. His shoulder is also on the mend; he still carries the sling with him, though he only uses it when he feels his arm get tired. He is close to being cleared for active duty again.  
The FBI took over their case when it turned out the criminals they apprehended were part of a national organisation. He doesn’t particularly mourn about that, it was a shit case to begin with. Being fit again means that he can almost leave the unfortunate incident at the printing factory behind him. Apart from a couple of dreams in which he was falling - one time with Nines bursting into his bedroom because he yelled hard enough to rouse the android from his stasis in the other room - Gavin only has some physical trauma from that day. And that heals over time.

However, where Gavin took the physical hit, Nines took the emotional hit. He has no idea how to help the android with that, especially because Nines doesn’t say a word about it, no matter how much Gavin pries. There is a case of misconduct filed against his partner, with Internal Affairs investigating the thing. As far as Gavin knows they had one interview with Nines and when Gavin asked how it went, the answer was not even a full sentence: “Fine.” The thing is, his partner is anything but fine, even though Nines goes through the motions of the day like he always does. Everything looks fine, but it isn’t. It’s just a hunch, Gavin has no hard evidence. Nines is not talking about it, Connor also keeps his mouth shut, and Captain Fowler just sighs and says the IA cases are classified, even to him. 

So he takes a page from his partner’s book and talks to Nines about anything but the case. Distraction works, right? An old recipe book Gavin got from his mom turns out to be a great distraction. It’s actually his grandma’s, with handwritten recipes that have the android almost vibrating out of his skin when he has the book in hand for the first time. Gavin worries for a second that the sheer amount of joy will break his partner. 

Leaving the book out on the kitchen counter for Nines to find when he comes to visit Tiny turns out to be a good idea; Nines insists on trying every recipe in the book at least once. Gavin is not the only one to benefit from it; Tina gets invited for dinner every now and then and their other co-workers at the precinct also enjoy the fruits of Nines’ cooking and baking. Captain Fowler is even seen smuggling a second helping of the Triple Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake to his office.

  
***

It happens when Gavin comes back from the doctor’s office with a clean bill of health. He wants to tell his partner that he is now legally allowed at crime scenes again, yet the android is nowhere to be found. So Gavin drops by Tina’s desk to tell her the good news, gets himself some coffee and turns on his terminal to check for messages. He has some standard emails and an alert for a shiny new case. The alert is an hour old, so it is safe to assume Nines has already seen it. He is probably already working on it. Somewhere.

< Gavin >  _ Hey Tin Can. Where did you run off to? _

Half an hour later the detective has reviewed the minimal information on the new case, yet there is still no response from his partner. That is odd. 

He looks around the bullpen for a sign of his partner. The tall android is nowhere to be seen. And now that he thinks about it, his brother is also absent and so is the lieutenant.   
“Where the fuck did everybody go?” Gavin mutters to himself as he stands up from his chair. He really needs to go to the crime scene, the forensic crew is already present and if he wants to get a clear look he has to hurry up. 

He sends Nines another message, with the address of the crime scene attached.   
< Gavin >  _ See you there. _

Only he doesn’t see Nines there. Gavin is the only detective present at the crime scene, a marital dispute gone terribly wrong. The case itself is pretty straight forward, the evidence speaks for itself. The husband, the supposed killer, is absent, though Gavin is pretty sure his uniformed colleagues will find the man at one of the bars he is known to attend on an almost daily basis. He is not worried about this case. His partner who doesn’t respond to a multitude of messages, now, that’s another matter.

Back at the bullpen he sees Anderson sitting at his desk, working in concentration. Gavin books it across the room, almost skidding to a stop at the lieutenant’s desk. “Where is he?”

The older man doesn’t look up from his terminal. “Define  _ he _ .”

“The Muffin Man, who else?!” Gavin impatiently drums his fingers on his crossed arms.

“He lives on Drury Lane, last time I checked.” Anderson finally looks up. “What do you want, Reed?”

The urge to pour coffee down Anderson’s horrendously loud shirt is hard to ignore, but Gavin manages. Barely. “Where is my partner?”

“How should I know? He is  _ your _ partner,” the lieutenant taunts, before shrugging his shoulders and answering like a normal person. “He’s in DC, didn’t he tell you?”

“Excuse me?” 

Anderson groans and rubs a hand across his beard, though his irritation seems to have little to do with the detective, for once. He mumbles something that sounds like ‘damned androids and their stunted emotions’, before he explains to Gavin that both Nines and Connor are in Washington DC for a hearing by Internal Affairs. “It’s the first time something like this happens to an android police officer, you know. Jericho stepped in too, it’s turning into a whole political mess.” 

“Why the fuck do _ you _ know this and  _ I _ don’t!?!” Gavin is ready to blow up and it is only because there is a sudden message from Connor on the lieutenant’s phone that he doesn’t haul the old geezer across the desk. He grabs the phone instead, looking at the message before it disappears. 

< Connor >  _ We’ve arrived in DC. Flight went well. Hearing is in two hours, so we’ll have time to check in at our hotel first. _

Gavin tosses the phone back on the desk and grabs his own, quickly scrolling through his contacts until he’s at the P of ‘Plastic Prick’. He leaves an irritated lieutenant behind, making his way to the back door in big strides. He needs a smoke.

Connor picks up on the first ring, Gavin has not even crossed the bullpen fully. “Detective Reed, what can I do for you?”

“What the fuck are you doing in Washington? Is Nines with you?”

The silence is a second too long. “I think it’s best if you talk about this with Nines.”

“I would if he responded to my messages!”

“He says he’ll call you right away, detective.” Connor is calm, the exact opposite of Gavin.

The call gets disconnected and a moment later his phone rings, the display showing Nines’ name. Gavin angrily jabs at the green connect button. “What the fuck, Tin Can?! When did you plan on telling me?!”

“I’m sorry, detective. The hearing got rescheduled to an earlier date and I had to make arrangements at a very short notice.” The android sounds even more formal than usual, making him sound distant on top of the actual distance. 

Gavin pauses with his hand on the door handle, two steps away from his usual smoking spot by the back door of the station. He clenches the phone by his ear, letting his head hang to take a deep breath. He is dangerously close to losing it and starting a full out screaming war, yet he knows that will not get him answers.   
He takes another breath, and another. He is a little calmer when he pushes the door open and steps outside, automatically taking position with his back to the brick wall, his head leaned back. He starts talking with his eyes closed, asking the android why he didn’t tell him that the IA investigation was so much bigger than just a formality. 

It’s not the first time he hears the android falter in his speech and he hates it all the more for what it means. “I… I don’t know, detective.”

“Bullshit. You  _ do  _ know.” Fucking hell, this is not a conversation he wants to have over the phone. “We’re partners, Nines. You’re supposed to tell me shit.”  
The following silence tells him the android knows that too. Gavin sighs and rubs a hand across his face. “So what if you were a little rough with a suspect? I have the disciplinary record to back up the fact that it happens to everyone.”

“Not everybody shares your bad temper, detective,” Nines answers softly, not exactly disagreeing with him. 

“Whatever, I’m just saying, we all make mistakes.”

“Androids don’t.”

And well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? Nines broke the First Law of Robotics, he harmed someone. Granted, it was an android, but they are people now too. Gavin sighs again, he really should’ve paid more attention. He should have made Nines talk about it, not let him shoulder this alone.   
“Are you okay? Is there something I can do?”

“I’m alright, detective. Thank you.” Nines doesn’t really sound  _ alright _ and fuck if that doesn’t pull at Gavin’s heartstrings. However, he is here and the android is all the way over in the nation’s capital. 

“Good thing Connor’s with you,” Gavin answers, trying to sound upbeat. “But, really, Nines, can I help?”  _ I want to _ ,  _ I really want to. I’m the one that got you into this mess. If I hadn’t fucked up and got myself tossed over that railing, you wouldn’t have hurt that android. _

“You could water my plant.” 

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You could water my plant,” Nines repeats casually. “It has to be watered once a week and today is the day I usually do that. I just didn’t get to do it because…”  
Because he had more important things on his mind. 

“Sure,” Gavin agrees. “I can do that.” It’s not exactly the kind of help he has in mind - although he doesn’t know  _ what  _ kind of help he actually  _ has _ in mind - but if he can help his partner by watering his plant, that’s what he’ll do.

“Great. I’ll send the security code to your phone. The watering can is in the kitchen, second cupboard to your ri -”

“I’ll find it,” Gavin interrupts him. Talking about such mundane things doesn’t seem quite right at the moment; although a deep, heartfelt conversation also isn’t on the spectrum. Not by phone. He clenches his jaw. “Good luck at the hearing. Let me know how it went, okay?”

Gavin can envision the small nod that accompanies Nines’ words. “I will. Thank you, Gavin.”

_ Fuck _ .

***

The detective goes by Nines’ apartment after work. He’s never been inside the building, he has only dropped his partner off in front of the main entrance. It’s as fancy and sleek on the inside as it is on the outside. Most of the occupants are androids, which explains all the fancy electronics and the lack of buttons. It takes Gavin a while before he knows how to make the elevator go up to the seventh floor; it turns out the glass wall of the thing is one giant touch screen, only activating when touched. 

The apartment has a similar device - only much smaller - next to the door: a keypad that Gavin has to use to get in. He types in the code Nines sent him and the door unlocks with an audible click. 

The hallway is white and empty, save for a row of coat hooks on the wall and a shoe rack underneath it. Nines’ white Cyberlife jacket with the high collar is on a hook, and there is one pair of neatly polished shoes on the rack. There are three doors in the hallway: two to the right and one at the end. Bathroom, bedroom and living room, probably. 

Gavin instinctively goes for the farthest door and steps into a large, L-shaped space that has to be the living room and the kitchen. The kitchen, around the corner from where he is standing, is easily recognisable. It’s more of a kitchenette, because androids don’t need a lot when it comes to a kitchen. It’s separated from the living room by a bar counter, two high stools in front of it. A grey and white kitchen, black leather and chrome stools, nothing unusual there. The thing that has Gavin stopping in his tracks is the living room. 

How long is Nines living here by now? Two, maybe even three months? Long enough to leave some impression on the home, you’d think. Yet the room is bare. White walls, light grey floor, floor to ceiling windows on one side, with dark grey curtains hanging down to the floor. The apartment has a decent view of the city and that is also the only thing to look at in the room. The walls are void of pictures or paintings, there isn’t even a tv in the room. The only furniture is a black, leather sofa and a coffee table made from glass and chrome. 

The sofa is angled towards the windows, the only source of entertainment in the room. Sure, Nines is a walking and talking supercomputer, if he wants to watch a show he can do that in his own head. Still, when he is at Gavin’s place, he watches tv just like any human. And he knows the android also goes through Anderson’s record collection every now and then with Connor. So, what does he do when he’s at home by himself? Watch the lights of the city all night? Or would he stare at his plant?

The reason for Gavin’s visit is in the corner by the window. It’s a pretty large plant, with big, green leaves that stretch out into the space. On closer inspection it is clear that the plant is well cared for, there are no brown spots on the leaves, they are not even a bit dusty.   
Gavin turns back to find the watering can in the kitchen, opening up all the cupboards in his search. Most of ‘m are empty. The one under the sink holds cleaning supplies, there’s one with a basic set of dinnerware, like those starter sets you can buy at IKEA. There’s also some glasses and a lone drawer holds cutlery and things like a pair of scissors and a can opener. 

Gavin fills the watering can with a heavy feeling in his stomach. Not needing any food or drink explains the empty kitchen, though it is no excuse for the rest of the house. “How can he live like this?” he asks himself out loud, almost expecting an echo in the empty room. 

When the plant is watered, Gavin looks around the place. Maybe there are more plants somewhere? He has one in his bedroom, maybe Nines has one too. It’s a good excuse to check out the other rooms of the apartment, like there is someone here to judge him for that.   
The first door in the hallway leads to a bathroom. It’s decently sized, with a shower, a sink, a toilet and a stacked washer and dryer. Above the toilet there are a couple of shelves with neatly folded towels (all starch white) and some toiletries. There’s even a roll of toilet paper, probably for when Nines has a human over. Gavin doubts that has ever been the case before tonight.

The other door leads to a dressing room. There’s a linen closet in dark, almost black wood, with a full size mirror on one of the doors. In front of it is a large ottoman, and… well, that’s it. The dressing room is as bare as the living room. 

Gavin moves back to the hallway and stops to count the doors. One for the bathroom, one for the dressing room and one for the living room. Where’s the bedroom? This is not such a large apartment, it has to be here somewhere. He checks the rooms one more time, looking for a door he might have missed the first time, but it isn’t there. There is no bedroom, or rather, Gavin thinks when he stares into the dressing room, there is no bed.

***

Gavin has just finished his dinner and is doing the dishes, when he hears the front door unlock. He knows it’s Nines, his partner told him what time he would arrive when Gavin asked him to stop by after he got back from Washington.   
The android appears around the corner of the kitchen with an arm full of white fur. Tiny really isn’t tiny anymore, she now fills up most of the space in Nines’ arms.   
“Good evening, Gavin,” Nines says, before giving the cat one last pet and putting her down on the floor. 

“Hey Tin Can.” Gavin doesn’t protest when the android grabs a kitchen towel and starts drying the dishes. Pick your battles, that kind of thing. “How was DC?”

“Intense,” is the short answer. And it’s all the android says, even when Gavin leaves a silence, an opening for Nines to fill with words.

“Come on, partner,” he says, putting another plate in the dishrack. “You gotta give me some more to work with here.”

“You are right,” Nines answers solemnly. Gavin can’t see his LED, but he bets it’s spinning yellow, or even red. “I am sorry I’ve kept information from you.”

The detective hums in agreement. “You can make up for it by telling me about it now.”

And Nines does. It’s like the first words break a dam and everything pours out. Gavin wishes he had more dishes to wash, though Nines keeps talking even though the last dishes are dried. The detective listens quietly, watching Nines put away the plates and cutlery and making him a cup of coffee.   
He explains how, even though his actions normally would have simply earned him a mark in his disciplinary record, he is being used to set an example. There is no precedence, no records of androids harming others while on the job. The only cases known were those of androids who turned against their abusive owners, mainly during the first stages of deviancy. None of that applies to his case. And because Nines is a cop, who carries a gun issued by the state, he is under great scrutiny. 

“Will you lose your job over it?” Gavin asks, sipping from his cup of coffee. He sounds casual, but that is a front. A poorly executed front, if the knowing glance he gets from Nines is any indication. 

The android shakes his head. “Jericho appointed me an attorney, she told me my job is safe. Although I will be suspended for a while. There will be a press statement tomorrow morning, she expects there will be a media circus for the next couple of days.”

“Fuck,” Gavin mutters. There is a knot in his stomach and his coffee suddenly tastes like crap. 

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Gavin,” Nines says and that has Gavin’s head spinning on his shoulders.

“What? Why would -, why do you think -, no!” He shakes his head, trying to get his words straight. “I’m not disappointed, Nines. This is not your fault. As far as I’m concerned, you didn’t do anything wrong.”  
They stare at each other for a minute, a minute that has time slowing down and Gavin’s heart speeding up. When did Nines get this close? Or is Gavin the one who came standing so close to his android partner? He quickly backtracks, breaking the moment - whatever fucking kind of moment that was. His cheeks feel a bit heated, something he tries to cover up by talking over it. “Except for the part where you kept me in the dark about what was going on. That was a dick move, Tin Can!”

The movement is minimal, yet the corners of Nines’ lips curl up a little. “My apologies, partner.”

“Apologies accepted,” Gavin huffs, pushing past Nines towards the living room. He takes his usual seat on the couch, knowing Nines will join him without asking. He puts on an old cop show, in dire need of some normalcy after their talk in the kitchen. 

It’s hard to keep his mind on the show, although he automatically puts on a new episode after the first one is done. Tiny is in Nines’ lap, like she always is ever since she first came to live with him. Sid is in the chair, on his personal pillow. Everything is like it always is and Gavin realises that, this, with the cats and Nines near, is what his life looks like nowadays. His work partner has become a solid part of his private life. 

Gavin peeks at Nines from the corner of his eyes. The android is settled in a corner of the couch, one arm stretched out along the back and the other resting in his lap, slowly scratching Tiny behind the ears. He looks at ease, at home even. It solidifies the notion that the empty, white apartment is not a home for the android; no one can convince Gavin that his partner is that much of a minimalist.

The episode is done, the next one is only the click of a thumbnail away. Yet Nines carefully lifts Tiny from his lap and gets up from the couch. “It is late, I should leave,” he says.

“Why?” Gavin winches when the question comes out anything but casual or even plain curious. He sounds needy, whiny. 

The android looks down on him from his standing position. “Because we have work in the morning,” he answers matter of factly. “And I have laundry to do.” He gestures towards the black overnight bag in the corner of the room, he came here straight from the airport. 

“You can do that here too,” Gavin says, swallowing against the lump in his throat. The idea of Nines alone in that empty apartment doesn’t sit well with him. Like, not well at all.   
He gets up and takes his empty glass to the kitchen, just to have something to do so he doesn’t have to look at his partner. He kicks his foot against the door of the built in closet that houses his washer and dryer. “Just put it in, it wouldn’t be the first time, right?”

“You are referring to the Tarte Tatin incident,” the android says, his head slightly cocked to the side as he watches Gavin.   
It was the first time Nines made a cake from the recipe book and he had not yet picked up the habit of wearing an apron. He wore Gavin’s largest hoodie while waiting for the washing machine to be done with his spattered black turtleneck.   
“That event is not related to our current situation, there is no direct need for me to use your household appliances.”

Gavin curses under his breath. Nines can be such an… android sometimes. He inhales sharply and blurts out his question before he chickens out. “Why don’t you have a bed in your house?”

His partner is taken aback by his question, his LED circling yellow for a moment before it returns to a steady blue. “Have you been snooping around in my apartment?”

“I’m a detective, it’s what I do.” He folds his arms in front of his chest defensively. 

“Then you know I am an android. We don’t require sleep like a human does.” Nines is looking at him curiously, like he doesn’t understand why Gavin is asking him about this. “I do not have to lie down to go into stasis,” he adds, although it is unnecessary.

“Have you ever?” Gavin asks quickly. “Slept in a bed, I mean. Or stasis, whatever.” He moves his hand jerkily over his arm and across the back of his neck, nervous about the situation, although he doesn’t really understand why. “You know? Like people do?”

He expects Nines to run the differences between androids and humans by him, he doesn’t expect the quiet ‘no’ that is offered instead. 

“No? You have never been in a bed?” Gavin’s eyes go wide. “How the fuck have you been spending your nights?”  
It’s a mostly redundant question, because Gavin knows at least part of the answer. Whenever he stays over at his house, the android stays on his couch. It is a solid guess that he does the same thing in his own apartment; the black, leather couch is the only piece of furniture that could be used as something akin to a bed.

“Gavin?” Nines is looking at him with a hint of worry. “Why are you getting worked up over this?” The android is probably scanning him and finding his vitals flying all over the place.

“Because…”  
_ Because I hate the thought of you standing in a corner of your clinical apartment. Because you got into trouble because you went after my attacker. Because I don’t want you to feel alone.  
_ “Because you’re my partner.”

Gavin musters up some courage and puts on an air of nonchalance, nudging Nines roughly with his elbow as he walks past him towards the bedroom. “Come on, Tin Can. I’m offering you the possibility of sleeping in a bed. Who knows, you might even like it!”

And that is how the android ends up in Gavin’s bed, lying on his back, with his hands folded neatly on his stomach. After the first hurdle was taken, Gavin wasn’t embarrassed anymore to make their sleeping arrangements as pleasant as possible for Nines. It took some convincing, but in the end the android dresses down to his black boxer briefs and a white undershirt. He also has a pillow and he is underneath the blankets, even though he keeps insisting androids don’t get cold.   
“Shut up, Tin Can. That’s how normal people sleep.”

Gavin’s bed is big enough for the both of them to lay down without having to touch each other. However, if Gavin wakes up the next morning with his back nestled against Nines’ shoulder, well, that is only because the extra weight of the android’s chassis makes the mattress dip towards him. 

Right?

**Author's Note:**

> I think there are one or two parts to go to complete this series.


End file.
